England team visit recovering Christchurch

THREE days before England should have been opening their Rugby World Cup campaign in Christchurch, Martin Johnson led a red rose delegation on a goodwill visit to the earthquake-torn city.

England were scheduled to play their first two pool matches, against Argentina and Georgia, and a potential quarter-final at the recently-renovated AMI Stadium.

Christchurch’s role as host city survived earthquakes on September 4 and St Stephen’s Day last year but a 6.3-magnitude tremor on February 22 devastated the city.